Lakeside Crochet Pillow Collection: Part 1

These pillows were inspired by the many colors of the Great Lakes. Being that I am a Michigan girl, these waters run deep in my blood. We spent our summers playing in them and our winters dreaming of when we could go back to “the lake”. The town I grew up in was about 20 miles from Lake Michigan and now I live in a little beach town along Lake Huron in northern Michigan. I love the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan but man…. Lake Huron is rocky and gorgeous and so so so blue.

I picked up these colors from my local Joann Fabrics because they reminded me of the beach. The blues for all the colors of the water and then of course the beige and gray for sand and rocks along the shore.

I decided to go with simple squares because I wanted the colors of the yarn to do most of the work. I used a combo of traditional and solid granny squares to achieve the patchwork look I was going for.

Dreamland iNspiration

All together there will be 2 pillows in this set, The Lake Breeze Pillow and The Beach Cottage Pillow. I decided to break these to patterns up into a series of sorts. Mainly because as I sat down to write this out it was really long LOL. I do have a confession though… I literally just started the second pillow earlier today. However, I know exactly what I want to do for the second so it shouldn’t be too long before it’s done.

These crochet pillows reminds me of something you might see in a cozy beach cottage along the lake, I envision it tossed on a bright white couch with a natural wood coffee table., the windows thrown open to catch the breeze off the lake and a stack of good books. This scene is obviously not my house because with three small kids that would not be so peaceful or clean, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

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Materials List

This is your materials list for the entire project (2 pillows). I am anticipating having yarn leftover but cannot say how much for sure because if you read my confession above I just started pillow number 2.

Lake Breeze Crochet Pillow: Back Panel

Abbreviations

-Dc: Double Crochet

-Sl st: Slip Stitch

-Ch(s): Chain(s)

-Sp(s): Space(s)

-Sc: Single Crochet

-BLO: Back Loop Only

Overall Pattern Notes

Ch 3 counts as 1 dc

The back panel is a giant granny square. I used only 4 of the 5 colors: Cream, sky blue, medium denim and denim, changing colors each round. The 5th color (soft gray) I saved for my center square, joins and border. I did this on purpose so my joins stood out.

When I crochet granny squares, I like to rotate which corner I start my new color in because I think it minimizes the “twist” that can happen with making a larger granny square and also all your ends won’t be in one spot so it won’t have that added bulk in one corner.

Instructions

Start with a magic circle or ch 6 and join to form a ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 3, 2 dc in ring, ch 3. * 3 dc in ring, ch 3 repeat from * 2 more times. Join to top of ch 3 with sl st. Break yarn and join next color in any ch 3 sp

Rnd 4-15: Continue in the same manor of the previous rounds. Starting with ch 3, ( 2dc ch 3, 3dc)in same sp as the ch3 and then (ch 1, 3 dc) in each ch 1 space around being sure to place ( 3dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in each ch 3 corner sp. Join to top of beginning ch 3. Break yarn and join new color in any ch 3 sp.

So there you have it, the start of a new project to add some crochet style to your home. I am all about this lately.. did you seen my last pattern on how to make a Quilt Square Wall Hanging? I also have a few more home decor projects in the works for the fall and winter. Do you like to decorate with crochet?

What colors are you going to choose for your pillows? Let me know in the comments or share them with me on Facebook or Instagram .